Twenty-four home games, including 23 to be played at Emory G. Bauer Field and another at U.S. Steel Yard highlight a challenging 2009 baseball schedule head coach Tracy Woodson has announced.

The Crusaders will play host to a pair of Big Ten foes this season, including a visit from Purdue on April 21 in a game that will be played at U.S. Steel Yard in Gary. Northwestern will also visit Emory G. Bauer Field on May 5 as part of the Brown and Gold’s home slate this year.

Valparaiso will open the season with 21 straight contests on the road this season, as the Brown and Gold heads south to play in February and early March. The season will open February 21-22 with a three-game series at Morehead State before the Crusaders head out on their spring trip the following weekend.

Three games at Arkansas-Little Rock open the trip, followed by a pair at last year’s NCAA Regional participant Arkansas. After a three-game set at Memphis over the middle weekend of spring break, Valpo will head to Starkville, Miss. for a doubleheader against Mississippi State. The spring trip ends with a four-game series at Tennessee Tech.

“I’m excited about the challenge this year’s schedule provides us,” head coach Tracy Woodson said. “This is something we want to do every year, playing a couple of top-25 opponents.”

Valpo will pay a visit to Notre Dame on March 18 before heading to Butler to open Horizon League action March 20-21. The Crusaders will open the home schedule at Emory G. Bauer Field on March 27-28 with a weekend series against Milwaukee.

Every Horizon League foe will visit Valpo this season with the exception of Cleveland State, and non-conference opponents including Bradley, Illinois State, and North Dakota will also come to town.

The 2009 Horizon League Baseball Championships will take place May 19-24 in Cleveland, Ohio, with all seven schools participating in the double elimination event with the champion earning the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals.